Grant me your peace

Lord make me an instrument of your peace. I say this prayer almost every morning as I awake, trusting God to transform me because I know I cannot make it through the day on my own volition. I am human. Just like the next person. I make mistakes. Almost all men and women of faith pray for God's peace, God's will.  We pray: Our Father, who art in heaven. They will be done. We pray:  Lord grant me the serenity We consistently pray for peace and joy.

Yet, there is also a disturbing trend to Christianity. We tend to be Christians+. On the surface that seems like a good thing, and sometimes it is; as long as it doesn't interfere with the Gospel. The problem is we tend to add something to our Catholicism, or religion, our Christianity. We take something we believe in, and we tack it on to the Gospel. Christianity + Democrats. Christianity + democracy. Christianity + republican. Christianity + the tea party. Christianity + a belief. Christianity + Occupy Wall Street.

It's ok to be a Catholic and a democrat. It's ok to be a Catholic and a republican. It's ok to be a Catholic and a member of the tea party. We must remember though, that we are Catholic first. We are Christian first. Our first and most important allegiance is to God. If there is a democratic belief that is contrary to the Gospel, then we cannot live by it.. follow it.. nor expect others to do so. The same with our republican beliefs.

We also have a tendency to say things like, real Christians must be members of this as well! If they really followed the gospel, then they'd be a democrat too! If they were really following Christ they'd be protesting on wall street with the Occupy Movement, etc. God has clearly laid out what we are to do. I agree there are causes we should join. There are indeed parts of certain movements I agree with, but the only movement a person needs to join to be a member of the body of Christ.. is the church. It's really that simple. If we examine every single movement out there, we are going to find there are parts of that movement which do not agree with our faith.

I agree with movements that want to help the poor. I don't agree with abortion. I agree with free market, I don't agree with removing the environmental protection agency in order to make business explode, at the expense of destroying God's creation. I am a vegan, but I understand that God has given permission (not requirements) to eat meat. I am Catholic. Not Catholic+, not Catholic-, but Catholic.

Let us all learn to follow God's peace, not our own. God's will, not our own. Let's learn to discern what God wants from us, what God calls us to do in the gospel.  Let us pray with all earnestly, God's will be done here on earth, as it is in Heaven.. and mean it.. live by it.. live it here, as we believe it will be lived there. The story of our lives is a many volume book filled with paragraphs of information, going on and on, filling shelf upon shelf. This life is but the very first letter... there is so much more to come after... let us start living as if eternity is what matters... because if eternity is what matters.. then love is what we need to be exhibiting here.. in every breath.. every action.. every moment.

His servant, and yours;
Brian

What good is salt?

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.- Matthew 5:13

Jesus talked in parables a great deal of the time. In this particular statement he made some very profound statements if we just take time to really analyze it. I just want to look at three particular thoughts that have been going through my mind the past few days. There are many other lessons that could be taken from here, but these are the ones that really stand out to me. They involve salt itself. These are the three things that I think of most when I talk about salt. So what does salt do?

Salt enhances flavor

When we add salt to our food it has a little flavor on it's own, but the major function of salt in gourmet cooking is to draw out the flavors of the food. It enhances them, makes them more pronounced. Jesus reminds us in this simple statement that we are to enhance the world around us. We are to make it better. To take the good in it, and there is good in the world, and magnify that. We are to edify, build, uplift. To increase the good by drawing attention to it, and avoiding the things that are evil. 

Salt preserves

It preserves food from corruption. It keeps the world away from what it is protecting. It cures it, and keeps it from rotting. We as the salt are to avoid corruption, and to preserve ourselves and our families from being corrupted. We try to spread the word to others, preserved in it's truth, not altered.  It is our job, our duty to preserve the world as much as we can from corruption. By spreading the truth, the gospel, in every action and aspect of our lives. We vote our faith, we walk our faith, we work our faith.

Salt makes one thirsty

Every action we do should help draw others towards God. They should be looking at us and saying, "I want what he/she has!" Our lives should make others thirsty for God, for love, for hope, for justice. Not just others, but ourselves! We should be thirsting for a closer relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ! Salt by it's very nature causes one to thirst even more.

So those are some simple aspects of being the salt of the earth. Are you being salt? Do you enhance the flavor of the world? Does your presence make others want you around or do they see you coming and go, "Oh great, here he/she comes again!" Do you preserve yourself and others, as much as you can, form corruption? Or do you live your life in a way that 'rots' your immortal soul and potential leads others to do so? Do you make others thirst for God, do you yourself thirst for Him?

Be the salt of the earth.

His servant, and yours;

Brian